From the Desk of the Previous Editor- Kirandeep Kaur

An institution magazine, it is often said, is essentially a bioscope. A bioscope which ‘speaks’ for the system, in fact showcases it to the world. As the Editorial team, our goal for Manthan 2010, was a step higher. We wished Manthan to be a bioscope which speaks not only of the system as a whole, but instead reaches out to each one of its member-vocalizing their thoughts and ideas. At this point, we can only hope that we have succeeded in our pursuit.
The making of this magazine has been a modest journey in itself for all of us. This endeavour you are currently holding began in a small room, amongst a group of nine people who agreed to take this challenge upon themselves. But this is not what I intend to talk about. Since childhood, we grow up hearing seemingly inspiring quotes like ‘everything happens for the good’ , ‘where there is a will, there is a way’ and many more. But it is not till we face a situation that threatens to break us down, do these of wisdom become real. Till then, they are just simple one-liners with no value tag attached.
So, I will talk about one such quote-‘ there is no secret ingredient for success, all you must do is believe’. Right from the begining, this quote held much relevance for us as a team, since each one of us was, being politically correct, a novice if the feild of ‘magazine management’. And when you start afresh, friction seeps in from all sides. Friction which stems from overconfidence, mismanagement, indolence or simply from lack of know-how. Wether you like it or not, life always reprimands you for not having enough experience and there is no such thing as serendipity. To be mathematically correct, I’d rather say that it exists but with negligible probability. The friction increases with proportion to the progress and it may even reach a point where it may threaten to overtake. This is the point of breakdown, where the prospect of holding on to a difficult task, becomes practically impossible. The force we discovered that makes you hold on is commitment, cause it is only commitment which gives rise to persistence needed to steer clear of the point of breakdown.

At the end of the tale what we learnt is that talent is important, but commitment is indispensible. Belief itself is not enough, there is indeed a special ingredient for success- commitment. Everything else simply follows. And this was our take home message for the day. I hope you enjoy reading Manthan 2012.